Frugal Living, but with Compassion
“Remember this: A farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.” – 2 Corinthians 9:6, NLT
The Blackwell family recently passed their own Economic Stimulus Package. The slow economy and resulting recession is playing havoc with our family budget. The rising cost of groceries (I paid over $4 for a box of breakfast cereal last night) is putting a substantial dent in our checkbook. More disturbing, though, is my home’s energy bill in February was more than the monthly rent of our first apartment.
My family’s budgetary challenges are only a snapshot of what’s happening across the country and around the world. While mortgage foreclosures and stock market losses is playing a significant role in shaping the worst recession since The Great Depression, perhaps the greatest impact of this financial crisis is how the unemployment rate is rising at an frightening rate.
Behind the unemployment reports and statistics are real people who find themselves without jobs, but with bills which still need to be paid and children who still need shelter and the certainty their next meal is coming.
Consider these facts: (source: msnbc.com)
- The unemployment rate in the United States is now 8.1%
- 651,000 jobs were lost in February, 2009
- 12.5 million jobs have disappeared since the recession began in December, 2007
- 8.6 million Americans have been forced to work part-time because of economic reasons from their employer
- Economists believe the jobless rate will hit 9.5% by year’s end and will approach 10% by the end of 2010. 10% means one out of every 10 Americans will not have a job.
Frugal living, but with compassion
No question my family has to make deliberate decisions about how we spend our money. Our stimulus package calls for cutting back on non-essential items. For example, I did not purchase Kansas City Royals season tickets this year, we are shortening our vacation from two weeks to one and Mary Beth decided not to attend a professional development seminar that would have given her a new skill to incorporate into her practice.
Instead, our plan is to hold on to this money and use it to help others who could be facing unemployment , the collapse of a small business or to help put food on someone’s plate. Our country is facing a serious financial and social dilemma right now – how do we tighten our belts and at the same time help keep others from losing their jobs?
Frugal living means living on less money. It means sticking to a budget, saving more money than we spend, and finding ways to reduce debt in order to make the most out the money we have.
Compassionate living means showing kindness and consideration to others. When we don’t show grace and love to others, we prevent grace and love from coming into our lives. True compassion is not just an emotional response, but a deliberate commitment based on being part of the human condition.
Frugal living, but with compassion can exist when we make the choice to make each a priority. The following are some examples of how my family is attempting to achieve both:
- Dining Out. Mary Beth and I love eating at a good restaurant. The issue becomes how we can continue this pleasure on our budget while at the same time supporting the local restaurant owners, servers and kitchen staff.
To address this, we have started the habit of sitting at the bar and ordering an appetizer, one salad and one meal to share. Restaurants that once frowned on meal sharing are now more relaxed about it. Sitting at the bar also sets a different expectation with the restaurant staff.
- Alternating lawn care responsibilities. I was watching a television news program recently about how one family in Arizona was dealing with the recession. The person interviewed reported he pulled the plug on his lawn care company as a way to cut expenses.
Instead, he would have his son attend to those responsibilities. But what happens if more families cancel their lawn care service? Chances are very good the unemployment rate will nudge higher once again.
The company I use to maintain my lawn is also a neighbor. Instead of cancelling the service all together, the arrangement will be to alternate between when he takes care of the lawn and when I do. I will still save 50% from what I paid last year, yet keep some needed cash flow coming in for my neighbor and his employees.
- Cutting back on haircuts. Since I now keep my hair short, I’m able to stretch the interval between my haircuts from three weeks to five. I still visit the salon to give them my business, only a little less frequently now.
- Prioritizing home repair projects. Our house is eight-years-old. It needs painting, new water facets, tile in the laundry room and carpet for the basement. Our first task in tackling these projects is to make a list. The list will not only prioritize what we need to do, but also who needs to do them.
Mary Beth and I can take care of the simpler projects and we will hire professionals to help with the more complex ones. By outsourcing some of our home projects, we are helping local businesses and their workers keep busy. By doing some projects ourselves, we are putting a little bit back into our budget.
- Living within our means. If we can’t afford to pay cash, then we aren’t going to buy it. This is a simple, but powerful frugal living concept. We will save until we can use cash – and then we will only pay in cash, not credit.
My wife and I will continue to make purchases that will stimulate the economy. However, putting ourselves deeper into debt to do so will not help anyone. We have the responsibility to plan wisely and spend responsibility. Everyone will benefit from taking such a common sense and practical approach. Bottom line: We can’t help others if we are not in a position to help ourselves.
How many seeds will you plant?
The quote used for today’s article suggests we will be rewarded generously when we use a generous amount of seeds, but it doesn’t reveal what type of crop these seeds will yield. It really doesn’t matter though. The crop could be anything. It could be love, a booming business, or a dream or goal realized. The point, however, is clear: The more seeds we put down, the more we get back.
This week we will have an opportunity to put down some more seeds.
Because of the financial crisis in the world, many children will not eat today. Compassion International has designated this Wednesday, March 11, 2009 as Global Food Crisis Day.
The global food crisis is forcing poor families to spend more of their household budgets on food, leaving little for anything else. In Bangladesh more than 90 percent of the 12,179 children are affected. Many children are eating only at the church-based center. Compassion International estimates it will need at least $2 million and up to $6 million to feed the 60,000 registered children and their families over the next few months.
Hunger Facts: (source: www.one.org)
- One person in seven goes to bed hungry every day.
- One-third of the world’s population is undernourished.
- There are 25,000 starvation-related deaths each day.
- Each night more than 300 million children goes to bed hungry.
- Every day, over 12,000 children (one every seven seconds) die from hunger-related causes.
- More than 4.4 million children does from malnutrition each year.
Your generous gift to the Compassion’s Global Food Crisis Fund will provide:
- Food vouchers to children and families needing immediate relief.
- Seed and agricultural tools so that families can grow their own food as well as earn extra income.
- Supplemental nutrition services offered at Compassion-assisted centers around the world.
The resources we have in this world do not belong to us. When our time in this world is over we will not be taking anything with us. But what we can take is the growth our souls will experience by showing compassion to others. If you are able to plant a few more seeds than you have been, you will be able to harvest a crop that will sustain you and will help nourish everyone you touch.
Economic downturns are cyclic. This current recession will soon give way to the next financial boom. The lessons learned from this slump can be broader than how we learned to stretch our budgets or live more frugally. The awareness we gain and the actions we take can last within us forever.
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Comments
16 Responses to “Frugal Living, but with Compassion”
What do you think?
Finally! Someone hitting the issue from both sides!
Living a frugal life has it’s value no matter WHAT the economy is doing, but if we stop supporting others completely, no one wins.
Excellent points all the way around! Thanks for this, Eric.
Alex, I liked the article a lot. However things are not that desperate there as you might think. If you have income in your household, then it’s just a matter of adjusting to living within your means (as you mention). To me that is the most important message you can give.
In 2002, during the Argentina economic crisis, the unemployment rate was over 50%. FIFTY. And we were not all school dropouts, most were professionals with several degrees. To have in my country, even today, a rate of 8.1% would be a bliss. I was one of the unemployed people in 2002, having been downsized in early 2001. I know exactly what it is to have zero income in the house.
How did we survive? We had to cut on all non essentials and lived whithin our means. Back then we were also living in a bubble. When we got to the zero income moment, we started selling everything we had: books, CDs, clothes, shoes, appliances, etc.
Then we started seeing the opportunities laying in front of us. Me, as many others, took advantage of the new environment. Many people who were just doing ok before the crisis became millionaires.
While lots of jobs have disappeared since the crisis started, many more still remain and will remain. The economy needs to purge what’s not needed anymore. People need to retrain themselves to work in a new environment. While those 2 things happen yes, there will be pain. But you will all come stronger on the other side.
Be ready to be on survival mode for a couple years, then, everything will start going back to normal. Meanwhile, enjoy all the things in life that will forever be free and abundant.
Blessings
@ Eric: Thanks for reading.
@ Claudia: I appreciate you sharing your experience and thoughts. We can learn from how other countries have gone through a similiar situation. Thanks!
“The lessons learned from this slump can be broader than how we learned to stretch our budgets or live more frugally. The awareness we gain and the actions we take can last within us forever.” I like this quote a lot. Also the Bible quote as well.
Thank you for pointing out that we can’t simply tighten our belts. We have to think of those around us too. Sometimes those of us who live simply tend to forget that element.
Great read! Now if only we all could live this frugally when the economy is going strong! We’d all be much better off. The spread of compassion is oh so important. Thank you for driving home the importance of increasing the collective positive energy in the world. We are so blessed here in the states…we must share!
Thank you for sharing your action plan. I’ve been learning more about frugal living since I graduated from college, mostly because I realized how much “stuff” can get in the way of what you really want to do with your time & energy.
But what you’ve suggested is just brilliant! It’s great to give to those in need, and now is definitely the time.
It is all about how we take it as a “motivation” with all the bad news we that hear every minutes nowadays.
I think you have hit the nail; these are the times in which compassion is more needed than ever. For the Christian is indeed a leap of faith, to say, hey I can still help
Great point Amber. We are lucky. And although things are tough for us right now, there are some whose life is dreadful. We just need to figure out what we can do to help others and show some compassion along the way.
Fantastic post! The best I’ve seen on the Global Food Crisis and Compassion’s aid to those affected by it.
Thank you for using your on-line voice for this.
If you ever need anything from Compassion, please let me know.
-Shaun Groves
CompassionBloggers.com
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@ Shaun: Thank you to you and the other Compassion Bloggers for the work you do! It is truly appreciated.
Alex
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Great points Alex. I’m going to link up this article in my next Watercooler link roundup.
Barbi
@ Danelle: Awesom. Thanks so much!
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